Author Topic: Old School Sawmill Edger  (Read 18123 times)

Offline crueby

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #75 on: November 07, 2019, 01:15:28 AM »
Watching along, very interesting.   :popcorn:

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #76 on: November 07, 2019, 11:10:23 PM »
I just spent an hour trolling the internet looking for self aligning ball bushings to use for the two 1/2" diameter overhead shafts. My conclusion is that while they might be the perfect thing for this application, they cost more than I am willing to pay. (Which is not that unusual.) I do have a trick that will allow the shafts to turn freely and costs me nothing. Since the gear reducer and the upright attached to it are free to move horizontally +/- about 1/8" and vertically +/- .030" without affecting the way that the roller chain mates with the sprockets, I can drill and ream both of the uprights for 1/2" i.d. oilite bronze bushings, insert the shafts, and let the position of the shaft actually determine where exactly the gear reducer has to set.  I will post more about this when I get the edger and gear reducer positioned on the base which I currently have under way.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #77 on: November 09, 2019, 06:45:16 PM »
I believe this is going to be a beautiful thing. I have been busy the last two days building some small fixtures for a customer, but stopping to add another coat of clear to the plywood base every time I could. This is the first time I have actually set the edger and gear reducer on the base, and I'm happy to see that everything fits the way I had planned.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #78 on: November 10, 2019, 11:43:02 PM »
Found out a few things today. The roller chain is about the right length with 1/8" shims under the gear reducer. I tried adding a half link to the chain length, but that made the chain too long and it was still slack with no spacers under the gear reducer. I dummied up that big pulley on the gear reducer and drove it with an o-ring belt from my electric drill. Everything goes round and round which is always a good thing. I have to put some 0.020" or 0.030" shims under the bearings on the infeed textured roller so the roller sets marginally higher than the top of the infeed table. Right now it is only about 0.005" higher and can't get a good grip on the board to send it through the saw. I picked up my oilite bronze bushings for the two overhead shafts today from Princess Auto. (You can see one of them setting on the infeed table.) I will cut the bushings to the correct length tomorrow and install them in the tower that is bolted to the edger frame. Then I will put a 1/2" shaft through and mark the tower above the gear reducer to see where the shaft center actually falls.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2019, 01:18:20 AM by Brian Rupnow »

Offline Johnmcc69

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #79 on: November 11, 2019, 02:11:10 AM »
 :ThumbsUp:
 :popcorn:
 John

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #80 on: November 11, 2019, 06:39:13 PM »
The best laid plans of mice and men---When I built that gear reducer ten years ago, I attached the gears to the shafts with Loctite. Not very smart, but I was a newbee at the time. Now it seems I have to disassemble it all and pin the gears or add set screws to them. Phooee!!!

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #81 on: November 11, 2019, 08:47:44 PM »
Things weren't quite as dire as I had thought.  Nothing has let go in the gear reducer. The roller chain sprocket that I have on the reducer output shaft has been sleeved down to 1/4" diameter from 3/8" diameter. I forgot to drill and tap new set screw holes, so even though the set screws were tightened they were only bearing against the sleeve, not the output shaft. I have both uprights drilled and reamed for 1/2" shafts, and they seem to be fine---with all the bolts tightened up the shaft still spins. The roller chain is a bit tighter than I expected it to be, so the 1/8" spacers underneath may have to become .150" thick, not the .125" that they are now. Some of this stuff you just can't tell until all the bolts have been tightened up.

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #82 on: November 11, 2019, 10:40:07 PM »
Hello Brian,

Hang in there, it is looking beautiful and cannot wait to see it in action.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #83 on: November 12, 2019, 11:31:10 PM »
Today was o-ring pulley day at my house. Looks like tomorrow may be an o-ring pulley day too. Four down, three to go. I have ground a tool bit to the profile I wanted, so all grooves are plunge cut to a depth of 0.070". I am hoping to achieve the result shown in the attached drawing, which means that the 1/8" cross section o-ring will pick up traction from the sides of the pulley as well as from the bottom. The picture of the tool I ground isn't that great, but it has an 0.080" flat on the tip and an included angle of 50 degrees. There has been a raging blizzard here all day, with about 6" of new snow on the ground and 6 more on the way overnight and into tomorrow. No fat-mans walk today. I'm down 42 pounds since May, and have 8 more to go. May be walking in the mall until snowmobiles have packed down the snow in the bush-trails I generally walk on.


« Last Edit: November 12, 2019, 11:40:28 PM by Brian Rupnow »

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #84 on: November 12, 2019, 11:59:54 PM »
... I have been busy the last two days building some small fixtures for a customer ...

Those pesky customers sure can spoil your fun.   :ROFL:

Looks good Brian; you’ll be making saw dust in no time!
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #85 on: November 13, 2019, 04:29:27 PM »
It took every last inch of 2" aluminum stock that I had, but all of the pulleys are finished.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #86 on: November 13, 2019, 10:42:16 PM »
This afternoon seen the first assembly of the two overhead shafts, gears, and pulleys. I think I'm going to end up putting a bolt on gusset plate on the tower coming off the gear reducer, because right now things are more flexible than I am comfortable with. Tomorrows job will be to build the gusset plate and put set-screws into all of the pulleys.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #87 on: November 15, 2019, 05:40:44 PM »
So, I have arrived at the point where there really isn't much left to do except buy a bunch of O-rings for drive belts and "free up" all of the shafts which run in bushings. This picture shows my 1750 rpm motor "running in" the top two shafts and bearings. There is also one o-ring belt driving the saw arbor. I will keep lots of oil on the bushings and let it run that way for an hour.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #88 on: November 16, 2019, 04:23:54 PM »
For all intents and purposes, the project is finished. My next challenge is going to be getting the correct size and length of O-rings for drive belts. there is a local o-ring company that doesn't sell to the public, but who have helped me out before. There is also a seller in Toronto who I will contact on Monday. I am quite excited to see this edger working.--Brian

Offline Johnmcc69

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Re: Old School Sawmill Edger
« Reply #89 on: November 16, 2019, 10:03:54 PM »
Very nice Brian!
 Excited to see it work as well!
 
 John

 

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